Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, applauded President Barack Obama’s memorandum to expand the rights of gays, lesbians and others in regard to hospital visitation and medical decision-making for their partners and family members.

Nadler issued the following statement:

“I want to thank President Obama for this important memo on hospital visitation and medical decision-making for same-sex couples and families, as well as for other caretakers who are not legal spouses. This ensures that everyone will have the same unqualified right to have a person of their own choosing with them in the hospital. This basic civil right is long overdue and essential within a society that seeks to treat its citizens equally and promote the stability and health of families. Without marriage equality, this memo is absolutely critical for ensuring that the federal government is protecting the medical rights of all families and not discriminating against certain classes of citizens. LGBT families need and deserve the same civil rights as other American families, and I applaud this progress in that long struggle.”